It was a good week, and a good weekend as well (I know I’m later than usual with the weekly digest). My wife was away for a training this weekend, so it was just me and the twins. Had great fun, but spent quite some time today getting the house back into shape. And the things you eat when you let 7 year old’s decide what’s on the menu…
What caught my eye this week (apart from the news about Crowdsourced Logistics start-up Roadie, which you can read here):
Inside Amazon’s heavy-duty fulfillment center: A ‘perfect symbiosis’ of robots and humans
Ok. This isn’t news, but it is great to watch. Amazon is at the forefront of combining people with robots, and they have been since buying Kiva in 2012.
- Inside Amazon’s heavy-duty fulfillment center: A ‘perfect symbiosis’ of robots and humans – Geekwire
- Touring a new Amazon fulfillment center: Could robots eventually replace humans? – Bizjournals
Kinks in Your Supply Chain? Dealing with Port Congestions & Shutdowns
One of the major stories this past week was the tentative agreement between the PMA and the ILWU in the labor conflict that has been wrecking havoc on businesses dependent on cargo moving through the west coast ports. A lot of interesting articles this week on that subject. If you’ve read these, you will be fully up to speed. Will take some time before the ports are.
And some great pictures. How a bad situation can look good…
- Kinks in Your Supply Chain? Dealing with Port Congestions & Shutdowns – Cerasis
- The US West Coast Port Debacle: Porter’s Five Forces at Work – Logistics Viewpoint
- U.S. West Coast Ports Face New Competitive Threat: Mexico – Logisics Management
- Getting West Coast ports back to full capacity will require patience and time – SupplyChain247
- Sigh of relief from US trade as new deal for peace at west coast ports is brokered – The Loadstar
- This Is What Gridlock in the Biggest Port In America Looks Like – Gizmodo
- The Story Continues…. Let’s Don’t Sugar-Coat the Issue – Supply Chain Shaman
- Ready for the Next Port Crisis – Talking Logistics
Drones still useful in supply chains despite FAA regulations
The drones are not out of the news yet. It was in last week’s overview as well, but there were some new articles this week which were interesting. And as I’m a fan of logistics innovations like drones, here are a few more stories:
- Drones still useful in supply chains despite FAA regulations – ZDNet
- Transportation chief defends drone rules – The Hill
- New FAA rules prohibit cargo delivery by drone – Air Cargo World
3PL Companies, 3D Printing & the Future of Manufacturing
I will round up this week’s overview with some interesting pieces on 3PL’s, logistics and transportation. Several surveys and research reports with interesting outcomes, including an opinion piece on LinkedIn.
- 3PL Companies, 3D Printing & the Future of Manufacturing – LinkedIn
- 3PLs Focus on Continuous Improvement Programs to Improve Warehouse Performance – Logistics Viewpoint
- Global transport logistics M&A flat year-over-year, PwC analysis says – DC Velocity
- Survey says: Non-asset sector a leading battleground in search for faster growth, healthier margins – Logistics Viewpoint
The Logistics Video of the Week is one of the biggest container ship in the world. For now, as they still larger ships are being built. I wonder when the biggest ship will actually be built…
Please find Logistics in the News – Week 9 here.
